​UNSPORTSmanlike Conduct

SBNation- This is heartbreaking, or it would be heartbreaking if Jordan Leopold wasn't traded to the Wild at the NHL deadline. His family got their wish, and now their dad is home. It was awesome to see that two teams could make this work and the ramifications are far greater than hockey.

​Eleven years old and already a master of manipulation. Talk about a young girl making her gender proud. For my money, there’s no better bet for success than young Jordyn. Whether that being the field of medicine, law, motherhood, or gold digging housewife, she already knows the power she possesses. This isn’t some 6 year old girl who can barely formulate English words pining for her Dad to come home. Kids know far more these days than their preceding generation did at the same age. She's been plugging away at keywords since she was in pampers. She knows it’s a business. This was a strong arm. It wasn’t delivered to the Minnesota Wild front office. It was circulated online. No better way to get your way than to tug on the heart strings of the masses. You want to make waves among a business as bottom line oriented as professional sports than you better go viral and influence public perception. Fantastic move by young Jordyn. Put a professional organization between a rock and a hard place. Either they trade for Leopold and make it look like their business is being influenced by a preteen, or ignore the request all together and look like the bad guy. You can convince me that Jordyn is nice young gal, but you can't convince me that she is a naive young gal. This is the most calculated move I have seen from a non-asian in all my existence.

I got to wonder how Jordyn’s father, and namesake, feels about the trade. On one hand, he is close to home and got traded to a team that has a legitimate shot at making the playoffs. That’s a far cry from the slowly sinking ship he was aboard in Columbus. On the other hand, an NHL team let an 11 year old influence his future in the league. That doesn’t necessarily speak highly of his talents. I guess the pros outweigh the cons, but as a professional I would think that you would want a team to have a little more anxiety about separating with you.

I know this doesn’t fit the narrative that the media is trying to portray, but there is no way that the letter was the main reason Jordan Leopold got traded back to his hometown. Hell, I feel like Leopold gets traded three times a season, it was only a matter of time before he made his way around the league and back to Minnesota. This was a trade that made sense for both teams. It’s just a hell of a coincidence that it happened to satisfy the pleas of a young, outspoken girl. Be that as it may, got to love the public relations spin the Blue Jackets General Manager tried to pull upon trading Leopold.

All wells that ends well, I suppose. If the media is going to glorify a story, it might as well be in a positive way for once...

P.S. Not that they were intentional, but you got to believe that the misspellings worked in her favor. Smiley faces and bad grammar only become stigmatized after puberty. Until then they seem cute, sincere and non-threatening.